Football——Beautiful game, dirty business

　　足球：竞技精彩，交易龌蹉

　　Football is a great sport, but it could be so much better if it were run honestly

　　作为一项伟大运动的足球，公平竞争能让它变得更好。

　　THE mesmerizing wizardry of Lionel Messi and the muscular grace of Cristiano Ronaldo are joys to behold. But for deep-dyed internationalists like this newspaper, the game's true beauty lies in its long reach, from east to west and north to south. Football, more than any other sport, has thrived on globalization. Nearly half of humanity will watch at least part of the World Cup, which kicks off in Brazil on June 12th，2014.

　　有着梦幻般迷人动作的莱昂内尔梅西和有着健美身材的克里斯蒂亚诺罗纳尔多总是让人为之疯狂着迷。但是在像我们报纸这样真正的国际主义者看来，足球运动之美在于这项运动的覆盖范围之广，从东到西，从南到北，都有它的踪影。足球比其他任何运动都更具全球性。2014年6月12日，全世界几乎有一半的人至少会收看部分巴西世界杯的比赛。

　　So it is sad that the tournament begins under a cloud as big as the Maracan stadium. Documents obtained by Britain's Sunday Times have allegedly revealed secret payments that helped Qatar win the hosting rights to the World Cup in 2022.If that competition was fixed, it has company. A report by FIFA, football's governing body, is said to have found that several exhibition matches were rigged ahead of the World Cup in 2010. And as usual, no one has been punished.

　　所以让人难过的是这场比赛一开始就疑团重重，犹如乌云必然。英国《周日时报》获得的文件表明卡塔尔为获得2022年世界杯主办权向组委会塞了红包。如果竞选确实是被操纵了的话，那么事情肯定还不止这么简单。国际足球联盟的报道表明他们发现2010年世界杯前的几场表演赛是被操控的。但是和往常一样的是，没有人因此受罚。

　　This only prompts other questions. Why on earth did anyone think holding the World Cup in the middle of the Arabian summer was a good idea? Why is football so far behind other sports like rugby, cricket and tennis in using technology to double check refereeing decisions? And why is the world's greatest game led by such a group of mediocrities, notably Sepp Blatter, FIFA's boss since 1998? In any other organization, the endless financial scandals would have led to his ouster years ago. But more than that, he seems hopelessly out of date; from sexist remarks about women to interrupting a minute's silence for Nelson Mandela after only 11 seconds, the78-year-old is the sort of dinosaur that left corporate boardrooms in the 1970s. Nor is it exactly heartening that the attempts to stop Mr. Blatter enjoying a fifth term are being led by Michel Platini, Europe's leading soccer rat, who was once a wonderful midfielder but played a woeful role in supporting the Qatar bid.

　　这也意味着还有其他的问题。谁会认为在阿拉伯地区的夏季举办世界杯是个好主意?为什么在运用技术来检验裁判的准确性上，足球远远落后与其他运动，比如英式橄榄球，板球或是网球?为什么让一些平庸之辈来领导这项世界上最伟大的运动，特别是自1998年以来要让赛普·布拉特担任国际足联的主席?他如果在组织，早就会因其不断的财政丑闻而下台了。然而还不止这些，他已经无可救药的过时了，不管是他发表的对女性的歧视言论，还是妨碍尼尔森曼德拉(他在20世纪70年代年78岁叱咤风云的时候离开了其领导的政坛。)的一分钟默哀(当时的默哀还只进行了11秒)都可以看得出来。或者，真的应该对以米歇尔普拉蒂尼为首的为阻止布拉特连任第五届足联主席所做的努力而感到兴奋吗?米歇尔布拉蒂尼是欧洲最优秀的足球运动员，他曾是出色的中场队员，但是他还是很不幸的支持了卡塔尔承办世界杯。